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Stiller Family Foundation Makes $1M Gift to Champlain College Single Parents Program

August 01, 2014
| By Stephen Mease / Champlain News

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Champlain College Single Parents Program has received a $1 million gift from Bob and Christine Stiller through the Stiller Family Foundation to specifically offset childcare costs for single parent students. The gift to Champlain was announced at the Board of Trustees Dinner honoring retiring President David F. Finney. The gift will be made to the College over the next four years. Incoming President Donald J. Laackman said, "this gift from the Stillers is a wonderful honor for Dave Finney and yet another demonstration of the generosity of the Stiller family to our students and the College." Champlain's Single Parents Program is one of the College's longest-standing programs, and "it is only one of 11 such programs across the country," said Carol Moran-Brown, "offering single parents a support system covering students academically, financially, and personally.""The Champlain College Single Parents Program has changed many lives, and with continued support with gifts like this from the Stiller Family Foundation, it will do so for many years to come," Moran-Brown added. The program is designed to help single parents attend school full-time, and pursue a career-focused education. Its case management support services range from meeting daily needs to dealing with unforeseen emergencies. The Stiller Family Foundation has also made a commitment to provide matching funds to buy computers for single parent students. It has been estimated that a computer, loaded with the software would cost approximately $725. For every donation of $725 by June 30, the Stiller Family Foundation promised to match it to provide an additional computer for this special population of students.Following the announcement, commitments from those attending the dinner put the program at its goal of providing computers for all the Single Parents Program participants. "This will really help many of our students to be able to work from home and avoid having to pay for childcare to come to campus to complete homework assignments on the College's computers in labs and the library," Moran-Brown said. Support for the program is far-reaching, which was demonstrated when last fall's Women Supporting Women in Education benefit event raised $236,000 - for need-based scholarship and the "Save the Day" emergency fund - from 150 donors whose gifts were matched by a $100,000 challenge gift by Donna and Remo Pizzagalli.The College also holds an on-campus holiday party for families, complete with Santa delivering presents for the children sponsored by a department or individual at Champlain College. Luncheons are held monthly to offer support and comradeship.For more information about the Single Parents Program, visit http://www.champlain.edu/academics/undergraduate-academics/academic-and-career-support/single-parents-program. For information about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.

Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 60 online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition. Champlain College is featured in the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" for 2016 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.